Serbian PM: termination of South Stream is bad news

ucic said he wanted to discuss the topic with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials as he returns from the UN Security Council’s session in New York

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BELGRADE, December 7. /TASS/. Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic called “bad news” the information about Russia’s refusal from construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, Serbian RTS television reported on Sunday.

The prime minister said Serbia “has been investing in this project for seven years, but has to pay the price for collision of the big ones (countries).” Vucic said he wanted to discuss the topic with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials as he returns from the UN Security Council’s session in New York.

On Saturday evening, Serbia’s Minister of Energy and Mining Aleksandar Antic while commenting on the news about Moscow’s intentions to terminate the project due to the position of the European Union, said the Serbian side as yet did not receive any notification from Gazprom about whatever changes in the project of the South Stream’s construction. He said the statement of the Russian president about the termination of the project is taken in Serbia “as a signal, first of all, to members of the European Union, on who depends construction of the gas pipeline.”

Antic stressed implementation of the project required “agreement on the Brussels-Moscow line” and expressed hope “all open questions will be settled by means of negotiations, and both sides will reach an agreement.”

“Of course, this project is exclusively important for the energy security of this country, and on it depends also employment of a major part of our construction sector, but, unfortunately, we are unable to influence what happens to the gas pipeline,” the minister said.